1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a pacifier for premature babies, comprising a shield on which a nipple as well as, preferably, a grip is provided, and which has at least one recess for the nose.
2. Description of Related Art
In medical tests it has been shown that the use of a pacifier helps premature babies to learn how to drink, whereby they catch up in terms of weight more rapidly. The use of a pacifier does, however, often pose a problem for premature babies since commercially available pacifiers are too big to be used by premature babies. Moreover, premature babies are too small for bottle feeding so that food and also medicaments must be supplied via nasal or mouth intubations, creating problems of space for putting a pacifier into the mouth. A further problem is that the tubes are pressed against the baby's mouth or nose by the pacifier, thereby possibly causing pain.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,733 A a pacifier is described which comprises a shield with a recess for the nose and, optionally, for nasal intubations. This allows for an insertion of the pacifier in the mouth of a premature baby, without having to displace or remove a nasal intubation. However, the mouth intubation is pressed against the premature baby's mouth by the shield, which is detrimental for the premature baby, in particular if this mouth intubation presses against the mouth for an extended period of time.
From WO 92/11836, a pacifier for premature babies is known in which the rim of the shield of the pacifier has an indentation for the nose. The pacifier has smaller dimensions than conventional pacifiers, whereby the pacifier nipple is also prevented from being pushed out of the baby's mouth if the shield knocks against a support when the baby's head is in the lateral lying position. However, also here the insertion of mouth intubations poses a problem.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,796,628 A and DE 37 28 668 A1 relate to pacifiers in which the pacifier shield has lateral recesses for accommodating ducts, or tubes, respectively. Yet here the shield presses against the nose, and furthermore, it is disadvantageous that a uniform size is given so that the pacifier may be to big or too small for the baby, as the case may be.